Policy information sourced from Lambeth Local Plan 2020-2035

ED8: Evening economy and food and drink uses

The council wishes to support the evening economy in its town centres whilst making sure that any adverse impact on local amenity is minimised. It also wishes to manage the location of hot food takeaways near schools in order to promote healthy lifestyles.

  • Evening and food and drink uses should be primarily located in town centres and Central Activities Zone retail clusters in accordance with the requirements in the Places and Neighbourhoods policies in Section 11.
  • Evening and food and drink uses will not be permitted where this would cause unacceptable harm to community safety or the amenity of neighbouring residential areas and sensitive uses as a result of:
    • noise;
    • litter;
    • increase in anti-social behaviour;
    • visual intrusion arising from service plant such as ventilation and air conditioning equipment;
    • size and scale of the proposal;
    • operating hours;
    • impact of delivery vehicles/services;
    • traffic generation and impact on traffic flow and road safety.
  • Proposals for evening and food and drink uses should be accompanied by a management plan and a customer management plan, including mitigation measures for any negative impacts of these uses. Impacts such as noise and light pollution on local wildlife and biodiversity should be considered through appropriate location, design and scheduling to address the requirements of London Plan policy G6 Biodiversity and access to nature.
  • The use of outdoor areas including garden areas, rooftops, forecourts and pavements in association with food and drink uses will be supported only where:
    • this would not cause unacceptable harm to the amenity of adjoining residential property and the area generally, taking into account the size and type of the proposal, the hours of use proposed and the nature and character of the area; and
    • in the case of pavements, the width of the footway is adequate to allow this without obstructing pedestrian flow, and the use is arranged so as not to be a hazard to people with disabilities and older people and families with small children. This may require a suitable means of enclosure to demarcate the extent of the use. Stopping up of public highway to provide private outdoor seating areas will be resisted, especially in town centres.
  • Proposals for hot food takeaways will not be permitted if proposed within 400 metres of the boundary of a primary or secondary school. The opening hours of hot food takeaways may be controlled through conditions where this is considered necessary to manage impacts on neighbouring residential amenity. Operators are encouraged to comply with the Healthier Catering Commitment standards. Proposals for drive-through takeaways will not be permitted in any location. Proposals for the redevelopment of existing drive-through takeaways for other uses will be supported, subject to other development plan policies.
  • Applications for food and drink uses where home delivery of food is proposed should include a Delivery and Servicing Plan providing details of the scale of operation, delivery collection points, locations for parking of delivery vehicles/bikes and hours of operation, to enable assessment of impacts. In areas of high footfall or where there are highway safety or amenity issues, the council will not permit home delivery services. In other situations the council will seek to agree a management plan with the applicant.

For more information please see the Local Plan